The Shadow King, a Vampire
by LittleRatWrites
Summary: When Kyoya Ootori goes missing, nobody at the Host Club quite knows what to make of it - that is until his best friend finds him and comes to realize that, during the time he was gone, Kyoya has somehow been turned into a vampire. Can they keep this dirty little secret, or has life as they knew it been completely obliterated? [Possible TamaKyo (Tamaki x Kyoya) in later chapters!]
1. Without The Shadow King

Life at Ouran Academy's Host Club had been less than normal as of late, and it was a very different kind of abnormal than, say, when Haruhi Fujioka had joined their group. That had been interesting, off-balance but entertaining. This… this was worrisome, if not a bit miserable, for the six members that were present.

 _ **Six** members being the problem here._

Their vice president, Kyoya Ootori, hadn't been seen or heard from in nearly two weeks now, and none of the others quite knew how to deal with that. While everyone else could brainstorm parties, it wasn't like they knew how to budget them - except maybe Haruhi, but they'd been decidedly burying themselves in studying since Kyoya's initial disappearance. Tamaki had plenty of ideas, but after a few days of being without Mommy, Daddy really wasn't in any mood to entertain his guests. He did, of course, as did everyone else, but it was clear to the members of the club that none of them were having a good time.

* * *

"Maybe you should call the Ootori's again," Kaoru suggested lamely, hazel eyes starring off into the distance as he picked at a loose thread on his brother's sweater, "See if they've heard anything?"

Their president sighed at that, but it lacked his usual drama, proving once again just how off things were these days, "I call every day. Nobody knows where he is… it's like he dropped off the face of the Earth or something!" There was a tiny spark of his usual character, but it was contorted with sincere dismay. He didn't understand this - ever since he could remember, he and Kyoya had been close. Sure, they didn't always see eye to eye, and he knew that he was annoying to the Shadow King, but… why would he just run off without telling anyone, especially without telling his best friend?

"Has he ever done this before?" Haruhi's somewhat more feminine voice caught his attention; they'd looked up from their textbook now, and those big brown eyes went from looking apathetic to concerned all at once. They may have been hiding it well, keeping a nose in their book, but Tamaki's 'little girl' wasn't fooling anyone here. They were as worried as everyone else.

"Never," one of the twins muttered, "At least not that we were there for… Boss?"

Tamaki shook his head at that, "No, he's always been so driven.. with his father's company and then managing the Club… he's never just left like this before." That's what the white prince really didn't understand about this situation - it was so out of character for Kyoya. He was an Ootori, for Christ's sake, he couldn't just drop off the planet!

 _…And yet, it seemed as though he had done just that._

"I don't know why we're all still talking about this!" Hikaru suddenly snapped. He'd been silent for the rest of the conversation, but now he was loudly voicing his opinion, "If - if he can just leave us all in the dirt like this, then who cares!?" Of course, if you knew the twins at all, then you knew it wasn't a matter of not caring. It was a matter of caring too much, of clinging to the only circle of friends they had. They idea of one of those few friends being gone was tearing the elder twin apart at the seams, and everyone was well aware of that - especially his brother.

"Hikaru.." he mumbled, turning to better look at his twin and dropping the string he'd been anxiously toying with, "It's okay to be upset about this, we all are…"

Of course, this just made the other male more frustrated with the subject, grumbling, "I don't know what you're talking about, Kaoru. I'm not upset that he's not here - I'm upset that he didn't tell us he was leaving! How could he just ditch us like this, damn it!?" It was rare that the Hosts cursed, but then, it was rare that they went weeks without seeing their vice president. Nothing was quite the same without him around and, besides, this was 'after hours.' There weren't guests to entertain - just a group of friends desperately wishing they knew where their seventh member was.

"Maybe he didn't tell us because he couldn't," Honey spoke up in a small, sad voice from his place at Mori's side, "Maybe something bad—"

 _Maybe something bad happened to Kyoya._

"—Enough, men!" Tamaki interrupted them, trying to play 'parent' despite not having the second one there, putting on a brave face for the rest of the club, _"_ I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Kyoya returns and tells us what's happened! We just have to hold out a little longer!" He sounded a thousand times more sure about that than he actually felt, though. Honey's unfinished suggestion was ringing in his ears, just as it hung throughout the rest of their thoughts. If something had happened.. and that would explain why nobody knew where he was.. that prompted a very troublesome point.

 _Was Kyoya hurt? **Was he.. even alive to tell them still?**_

Despite having been the one to vaguely propose the idea, Honey was the first to seek counsel that he was wrong about it, "Kyo-chan's coming back.. isn't he?"

"Yeah," Mori's familiar voice rang out as if on cue, quick to reassure the boy Lolita that everything was going to be alright, even though he didn't actually know that. The smallest of them all nodded, returning to the piece of strawberry cake that sat on his table. In the background, Kaoru and Hikaru were curled close to each other on one of the sofas, seeking shelter in the knowledge that they still had one another. Haruhi had buried their nose in an assignment once more, and the Host King was left to stare out the window and wonder.

 _Some things, at least, never really changed._

All that was missing was the familiar clicking of Kyoya's keyboard, or the scritch-scratch of his pen across paper. Such a small thing out of place, and yet, it felt like the world was turned upside down.


	2. You Found Me

After a long afternoon of sitting around the music room with the others, talking about Kyoya and trying to reason out what on Earth had happened to him, the Hosts were starting to clear out. Honey went first, claiming to be tired and ready for bed, and of course Mori left with him,"We'll see you guys Monday, okay? _"_ That childish voice was so sweet, it usually caused a smile, but in this case, everyone just waved the pair off.

"I'm gonna head out too," Haruhi announced as they closed their textbook, stuffing it into a messenger bag, "I need to get home and start dinner."

The twins raised their hands in unison, waving goodbye, "We'll see you later."

"Be safe, Haruhi," Tamaki advised, watching as they left the room before turning to look at the twins, "What about you two?"

Hikaru shrugged, "We're gonna stick around the club room for a while—"

"—See if Kyoya shows up," Kaoru finished the thought, leaning back against his brother's chest, "Go ahead and ship out, Boss, we'll see you Monday."

* * *

A few minutes later, Tamaki Suoh found himself walking home alone. The twins had promised to call if they heard from Kyoya, and of course, the other club members had made the same promise earlier in the day. It was getting pretty dark out by now, and he'd usually have had somebody drive him home, but he needed to clear his head, and he couldn't do that around a bunch of people. This walk would give him a chance to _think_.

Besides, the path home that he had chosen was a thousand times more lovely than the highway. Cherry blossom trees lined his path, though they weren't in bloom due to the cold weather right now, and the sounds of the outside world were blocked by the gentle wind in his ears. He would have to take Haruhi to see the trees come spring, if he remembered to anyways…

Pulled from his thoughts by the rustling of leaves, Tamaki got about halfway through turning around before he was grabbed by the wrist, tugged off the path as a familiar voice hissed, "Don't scream."

 ** _Kyoya!?_**

No sooner had the thought been made, he was squeaking it as well, _"K-Kyoya! You're okay!"_ Unthinking, he wrapped his arms tightly around the taller male's neck and hugged him, practically clinging to his best friend now that they'd been reunited. He was so cold.. but Tamaki brushed that off as the weather for right now. **"What happened, Mommy!? Where have you—"**

 **"—Tamaki, get off me!"** Kyoya snapped, quick to push his friend away and stumble back so that his own back rest against the trunk of a tree, **"D-Don't get so close!"**

 _"Why n…"_ Tamaki only got partially through his question before he spotted the scarlet glow in his best friend's eyes, the way he covered his mouth and nose with one pale hand, "Kyoya.. your eyes are… are those contacts?" _Yes, surely that would make sense; this was a new cosplay idea! That had to be it!_

The Shadow King shut his eyes for a moment in an effort to compose himself, and when they opened again, his usual black hues had returned, "They aren't. Tamaki, I… I'm afraid something terrible has happened while I was away—"

"—Oh, my poor Mommy!" Tamaki squeaked, launching himself back into the other host's arms as though the eye color problem was entirely forgotten. For that moment, it was. "I've been _so_ worried about you!" he whined as he clung to the front of his best friend's shirt, _"_ Y-You're so _cold_.. are you sick, Mommy? Let's go to my house, I'll have the maids make you some soup and we can—"

 **"—Tamaki, stop!"** Kyoya growled out, trying to be gentle about pushing his friend away again, but that only resulted in the Host Club's president grabbing his wrists in each hands. He could have gotten out of the blonde's grasp, but.. for now, he didn't.

Those innocent purple eyes starred up at the once-again crimson gaze. Now that his friend's mouth was open, he could see a pair of glistening fangs there. Noting that the raven's breathing was a little labored now, he frowned in confused worry, _"Kyoya… your teeth…"_


End file.
